Boris Johnson accused of failing to probe Chinese takeover of Newport Wafer Fab, UK’s biggest chip plant
- The PM had promised an investigation into the controversial sale to Nexperia, a subsidiary of China’s largest smartphone assembler Wingtech
- The UK parliament’s foreign affairs select committee says, however, that it had no evidence a security review has been started
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been accused of failing to carry out a promised security probe into the controversial takeover of Britain’s largest semiconductor manufacturer by China’s biggest smartphone assembler Wingtech.
Reports emerged last week that the government had quietly approved the sale of the Newport Wafer Fab plant in Wales to Wingtech’s Dutch subsidiary Nexperia. Wingtech, which is based in Zhejiang, is believed to be a third owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Nexperia both later denied that the deal had been approved.
Asked whether it had investigated or planned to investigate the Newport Wafer Fab sale under new national security legislation, the UK government said it was considering the case and no decisions have been made.
However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, the UK parliament’s foreign affairs select committee (FAC) said it had no evidence a security review had even begun.
